Thursday, December 27, 2012

I am very much grateful to the Lord for having this opportunity to travel to His Place. After a stop over in Amman for one day, we went to Israel via Mt. Nebo. The road going to Holy land was very scenic and super zigzag. Anyway, I already told in my previous post about what happened in the Border. So after successfully done with all the formalities in Israel border, we rode a bus and we went for lunch on the road. Then later we started heading to a place where Jordan River or I mean the Baptism of Jesus took place. The place was so green and lots of gardens. Here, I bought the Holy Water but the funny part here my co-traveller went straight to the river and fetched lots of water. Then later on our guide told them to throw away the water because it is not hygienic or dirty.

Then next stop, we went to Kinneret or Sea of Galilee. First we stop to the Museum and then later we went to the sea of galilee lake where we will go for boating as well as the reenactment of what Jesus way of fishing. It was really a humbling experience. And the bonus experience here is seeing rainbow over the lake it is really nice view. Then after another stop to go which is the Mount of Beatitudes. Mount of Beatitude's according to the tradition, is the place where Jesus gave his important sermon on the mountain. Here where we hiked up the hill and then went to church which is govern by sisters. And then later we went to St. Peters Place and its church and then later we went to Capernaum where jesus also preached . The best thing here was we had a special mass for our group and its really a moving and touching experience actually. Then it was getting dark and so we headed for a night going to Bethlehem. At 7pm we arrived safely in Bethlehem and took our dinner and because its really so tiring we slept right away and then the next morning we visited all the important places or sites in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a place where Christian, Catholics and Muslim or Jews were harmoniously living.

Then the very next day , we went straight to Tel Aviv and rode a bus for almost 2 to three hours drive. I love Tel Aviv. An old city but very clean, scenic and vibrant one. Sad to say, we just stay there for a couple of hours and then we went to Jerusalem and Nazareth. Nazareth is in Palestine and thats reality. We went to the place where Jesus spent his childhood and then another mass for our group was celebrated and for me it was very special having a mass especially during this tour.

After visited Nazareth, we spent the night in Jerusalem for 2 nights. Jerusalem is the capital city in Israel and the Holiest city of Judaism. In Jerusalem, theres a lot of Holy Sites to visit. On the first day, We Hiked going to the garden of Gethsemane and various lots of Sites. Our Last day in jerusalem, we went to this souk or called as Syrian Wall where the 14 station of the cross was held and we ended up visited the Wailing Wall of Judaism and the Mosque as well. We finished at 9pm and then went home to our hotel eat and slept.

The next day, again another holy site to visit - and that was Bethany which is in Palestine again and after mass, we went to Dead Sea for a little swimming, floating and then at lunch time we went to Jericho the old city in the world. After lunch we went straight to Eliat the border place between Egypt and Israel. We travelled the Place for almost 6 hours by Bus. At 7pm finally we arrived in Taba, Egypt and stayed in one of the finest hotel there. And that ends my Holy Land Trip. Next story Egypt!

Monday, December 10, 2012

I dont know how to start this article but I love Amman. I arrived Amman at 9:30 AM and I was thinking the weather there is not that cold but Boy outside is really cold Spell FREEZING. And this trip is a package trip, so everything was arranged by our tour guide. Amman airport is almost 30 minutes from the city so along the road we saw a lot of hills and valley and its a nice view indeed.

So around 12 o'clock we arrived in our Hotel. Finally we met our tour guide Madam Ally - She's the most lovely and well informed tourist guide. What I love about her is that there is no dull moments with her. She's funny, intelligent and witty. So that day after lunch, we went for a city tour and it was worth to see the whole Amman. FYI, Amman as the Capital city of Jordan has two parts now one is the old Amman and the other is the New Amman. The New Amman is where you can see new malls, clean pedestrians and vibrant night life while the old amman old settlers and dwellers are there. Then we went to Citadel which is one of the UNESCO heritage sites in Jordan. A very huge fort where you can see the whole view of Amman as in 360 degree view. Lots of Romans Architecture and influence. We went also to there version of Italy's Colosseum which is very huge as well. And then after the tour we went to the New Down Town Amman to eat for some lunch because actually we haven't had any lunch at all he he he. Then after taking our late lunch we headed to the Shop for some little shopping and then imagine at 5PM Jordan was already dark and its night already. So we went home and meet the other pilgrimages and then dinner was served and the very next day, we went to Madaba in Jordan where Mt. Nebo is located. The Tour bus took us around 1 hour going to Mt. Nebo. Mt. Nebo is a holy place where Moses died a very scenic and nice mountain ranges along the way. On top of Mt. Nebo you can see the city of Jericho and Jerusalem afar. And here where we are going to the Border between Jordan and Israel via allenby bridge. Whats the most heartening experience I had here is when I went to a little chapel and I offered a little donation to the Franciscan Priest and He told me "Blessed You" together he gived me the Blessed Virgin Mary which I heartily accepted.

And then later, we went down going to the Border area of Jordan and Israel. In the border it is really dramatic because each car was being checked up and it took us around an hour waiting for our turn. Upon arriving in Israel Immigration, a lot of checking and questioning. But with GODs guidance we passed through.

Amman Neighborhood is very quiet

Amman Citadel - A must to visit when your in Amman Jordan

Our Hotel in Jordan (I forgot the name) with lots of Hanging Plants adorning the wall